Some Rare Sense in a Sea of Nonsense

It looks like US gas producers will be allowed to export...

SO IT SEEMS the feds have come down on the side of gas producers rather than gas consumers. It was a rare victory against the zombies, writes Daily Reckoning founder Bill Bonner.

As you know, America is producing a lot more gas than it used to. The drillers want to liquefy the stuff, put it in tankers, and ship it overseas, to be sold to the highest bidder. But large consumers want to keep the price low...but prohibit export. And the feds reserved the right to decide.

Yes, the US economy is so zombified that you can no longer sell your output to whomever you choose. You have to ask permission. In this instance, it looks like the feds agreed with the producers. But only after a 'study' showed that it would be better for the economy to export it rather than keep it within US borders.

Everywhere else, the zombies are gaining. A report in the Wall Street Journal confirmed what we already knew: zombies don't work very hard. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has been compiling detailed data on how people use their time. Rather than just ask them...or just rely on how many hours people say they work...the researchers kept track themselves.

They tracked how many hours people slept, ate, watched TV and worked. And guess what? They found that federal government employees put in 3.8 fewer 40-hour weeks a year than employees in the private sector. If they were forced to work the same hours as people in the private sector, the government would save $130bn a year.

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